Louise Mensch has written to the Labour Party to demand an apology over
sexist” remarks by one of their MPs calling her a "little girl" and
referring to her husband as her "master".

The former Tory MP is outraged about comments on Twitter made by Austin Mitchell, who also suggested she was not a "good wife" for correcting her husband in public.

His controversial tweet read: "Shut up Menschkin. A good wife doesn't disagree with her master in public and a good little girl doesn't lie about why she quit politics."

Mrs Mensch now wants Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, and Harriet Harman, the deputy leader, to "speak out and condemn the sexist comments".

In a letter to the pair, she wrote: "Mr Mitchell has not deleted nor withdrawn his tweet. He is a sitting Labour MP and neither of you have said a word about his behaviour. I trust you will correct this lack of leadership at the earliest opportunity."

She added: "At 41 I ceased to be a little girl around 33 years ago. That is a sexist way to describe a grown woman. And as for 'a good wife doesn't disagree with her master in public' - how is this acceptable behaviour in a senior Labour MP who holds the whip?"

Mrs Mensch also drew attention to the fact Mr Miliband has recently given a speech calling for comedians to stop publicly demeaning and belittling people.

Amid calls for an apology, Mr Mitchell yesterday tweeted: "Calm down dears.Irony may be a low form of wit but it's clearly above my level.And yours.So my wife has banned me from tweeting today."

He later added: "Wife,three daughters,one granddaughter and Labour press office all demand that I withdraw my tweet.No chance of front bench now"

The Labour Party declined to comment but a source said: "Austin Mitchell has made clear the tweet was a joke not a serious comment. It’s not funny, it's understandable people find it offensive and it is not the view of the Labour Party."

Mr Mitchell appeared to be responding to the fact Mrs Mensch publicly contradicted her husband over the weekend. Peter Mensch, a US rock music manager, told an interviewer his wife stepped down from politics partly because she feared losing to Labour.

However, Mrs Mensch, who has previously spoken out about suffering sexist abuse on the internet, says she moved to New York this summer purely to spend more time with her family.

Mr Mitchell has previously used Twitter to suggest the BBC is "prejudiced towards women" because he claimed it discussed "vaginal atrophy" on National Menopause Day.

He then admitted: "I am a failure when it comes to women. Yes it is National Menopause Day. The discussion was on ITV with Philip Schofield in a starring role."

He also said that "arresting the pop stars of the seventies for Savile related crimes means raiding old people's homes do raddled unreckognisable (sic) wrecks."

A member of staff in Mr Mitchell's office said: "Knowing Austin, he won't have meant to cause offence but it obviously has done."